After 44-year wait, his cup runneth over

Peter was a backup quarterback for the McMaster University Marauders and just one of the players and fans whose hopes for the Vanier Cup -in those days called the College Bowl --were dashed in 1967 when the team lost to Alberta.

But, this year, as McMaster got closer to being able to right that four-decade-old wrong, Peter got a feeling.

"I saw how handily they had been winning their games and so I bought a plane ticket to B.C.," he says.

And he bought several tickets to the game.

Along the way he collected his son, Bryan Quinlan from Kelowna, B.C., his former Brantford buddy John Pew -who left town in 1969 to join the Air Force -a nephew from Vancouver, and former Brantfordians Adam and Lisa Welsh, who just moved to Surrey, B.C.

They tailgated together with the McMaster crowd and Peter -by virtue of his Marauders exploits during the late '60s -won them all an invitation to watch the game from the McMaster skybox. It didn't hurt that this year's quarterback was also named Quinlan -though no relation.

"The game itself was exciting but it was really nice to be emotionally involved with everyone around.

"We had a great time."

McMaster won the game with plenty of highs and lows and overtime.

"There were people coming out of their seats and people falling back in their seats. As far as I'm concerned, the right team won!"

Peter was decked out in some Marauders memorabilia: a shirt and hat from several former reunions. And he even managed to nab the coveted cup for a photo on the field after the game.

"What kind of lawyer would I be if I couldn't talk my way past security onto the field?"

And there he is, with a wide grin that's 44 years older than it was supposed to be.